Suspect In 6 Pill Hill Community Rapes Seized

Chicago police Friday night seized a man suspected of five sexual attacks on women during the last two weeks in the Pill Hill neighborhood of the Southeast Side.

The Pill Hill neighborhood is the home of many prominent Chicagoans, including Police Supt. LeRoy Martin. The community got its name from the many doctors who once lived there.

According to Lt. Philip Cline, commander of the Pullman Area violent crimes unit, police charged the suspect Friday night with six separate attacks on women. The sixth attack took place in the same neighborhood last September.

Cline identified the suspect as George Walker, 23, of 9334 S. Wentworth Ave. Walker is unemployed and lives with his mother.

The recent outbreak of sexual attacks in the Pill Hill area began March 14 when a man attacked two women in that neighborhood and attempted to rape them in two separate incidents. Both times the women broke away and escaped, Cline said.

The March 14 attacks occurred in the 8900 block of South Paxton Avenue and at 91st Street and Clyde Avenue, police said.

On March 16, in the 8900 block of South Luella Avenue, the same man struck again and this time raped a woman, Cline said.

Another attempted rape occurred on March 23 in the 8900 block of South Clyde Avenue. On Tuesday, a woman was raped in the 9000 block of South Bennett Avenue, police said. The victims ranged in age from 16 to 49 years.

Investigators concluded that the same man was committing all the crimes. Police were told to look for a man wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and driving a late-model, luxury car.

Police also concluded the same man attempted to rape a woman rape in the Pill Hill neighborhood last Sept. 16 in the 8700 block of South Cregier Avenue.

The assailant`s method of operation was to drive into the neighborhood, park his car and follow women who were walking alone between 6:30 and 9 p.m., Cline said. The assailant would seize the women from behind, drag them into gangways or back yards and assault them.

As a weapon, the assailant displayed a knife with a retractable blade, Cline said.

Friday night, 10 detectives from the Pullman violent crimes unit and four tactical officers from the South Chicago District, all in plain clothes, scattered throughout the area.

In the 8900 block of South Merrill Avenue at 7 p.m., a police officer saw a man in a blue hooded sweatshirt get out of a car and start walking. Officers began to close in on him, Cline said.

The suspect saw the police and ran to a home to pretend he was visiting there. The homeowner told police he did not know the suspect, Cline said.

Police found a knife with a retractable blade on the suspect, said Cline. In lineups Friday night, the suspect was identified by the victims of six sex attacks.